We are putting some finishing touches on a fun mobile that posed a bit of a design challenge. The fellow who commissioned it wanted a mobile to hang in the main room of this Jacksonville, Florida home. The space the mobile will fill is wide, but not very tall. Normally when we're making a wide, short mobile, we default to horizontal shapes (like this and this), but our client requested we incorporate vertical shapes and create something with a lot of visual interest and complexity.

The only way to meet the size and shape constraints was to create a mobile that used many smaller elements. After several brainstorming sessions, we developed a mobile that consists of several individual mobiles that work together to create a larger overall form. The entire mobile spans 13 feet and hangs 3 feet tall. Each individual mobile will have its own look, feel, and color, and overall piece will move freely.

Here are sketches of the mobile at various points of movement. We can't wait to see the final product!